Think Chaffey High School’s three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust approach isn’t exactly a football spectacle? Not if George Uko is visible through the dust.

Chaffey returns the entire hulking offensive line that paved the way to an outright Mt. Baldy League championship last season, but Colony, a CIF champ in 2006 and ’07, may not be the only challenger this season.

Don Lugo employs the most highly touted player in the Inland Valley, and that is hardly the only place Uko’s presence is felt.

A five-star defensive lineman according to scout.com – “He’s getting recruited,” Don Lugo coach Rick Martin said, “by just about every school in the nation” – the 6-foot-4, 296-pound Uko is rated the third-best defensive tackle in the country. He will play defensive end for the Conquistadores, but either way will find himself in the middle of the fray when Chaffey attempts to charge to its fifth league title in the past seven years.

“George is one of those kids who God has graced with some rare talents,” Martin said. “Some kids think they know the game. He is all ears, very coachable.”

While a Don Lugo team that started 13 sophomores a year ago could reach the playoffs, Chaffey and Colony are the powerful incumbents.

Colony wasn’t just the best team in the Mt. Baldy League in ’06 and ’07, the Titans were the best in the CIF-SS Central Division. But on the heels of consecutive CIF championships in their first two years under head coach Anthony Rice, the Titans finally returned to earth.

A youthful Colony team that ended the season with a sophomore quarterback took Chaffey to overtime and still made the playoffs, the third-place league finish wasn’t what Rice had in mind.

“We were young and we started a lot of young guys, but we don’t want to make any excuses,” Rice said. “We just weren’t ready to play last year. It humbled us to become a 5-6 team.”

Chaffey, which not only lost to Colony in ’06 and ’07 but fell by an average margin of 20 points, is approaching its league title defense with a humble attitude itself.

“While you hope the kids remember how it felt, if you dwell on it too much it doesn’t mean anything,” Chaffey coach Chris Brown said. “Colony is going to be ready to roll this year.”

Chaffey returns its entire offensive line, plus four junior linemen who plan to finish their careers as three-year starters. The Tigers graduated home run threat Deveion Bauman to Chaffey College, but work horse Ronald Douglas, who rushed for 1,387 yards and 12 touchdowns while sharing time last season, will be the primary option.

Two-year starter Jacob Ahmad returns at quarterback and middle linebacker. Ahmad is just one in a series of Chaffey quarterbacks, whose primary function is to block, to double as a linebacker.

“I don’t plan to play the same kid at quarterback and middle linebacker,” Brown said, “I just end up putting a good kid at that spot and it keeps turning out that way.”

Ahmad is one of six returning starters on defense and seven on offense.

Colony returns all but two starters on defense and all but three on offense, one of which is not Kori Grant, who took the starting quarterback duties from Travis Nelson after the Titans’ 0-3 start last season. Grant transferred to Los Osos, leaving Nelson to battle for the starting quarterback job with junior Rancho Cucamonga transfer Dominick Barnett.

Division-I caliber running back Jered Bell will be the primary option in the backfield, and 6-foot-3, 205-pound Utah-committed Kenneth Scott, perhaps the best receiver in the Inland Valley, will be the primary target downfield.

A trio of Todd brothers will be the backbone of the defense. After missing last season with a dislocated ankle, 270-pound senior defensive tackle Greg Todd will keep blockers off 6-1 245-pound linebacker Edward Todd. Little brother Michael Todd, a 6-0, 205-pound sophomore, will join senior Edward on the linebacking corps.

Though he has collected 19 scholarship offers, Uko isn’t the only future Division I football player on the Don Lugo defense. Steven Bethley, a 6-0, 200-pound safety who will serve as the Conquistadores primary running back, has already received offers from Colorado State and San Diego State and is being closely monitored by several Pac-10 schools, according to Martin.

While it has plenty of star power, Don Lugo is hoping the supporting cast will be strong considering it is returning eight starters on each side of the ball. Replacing just one member each on the offensive and defensive is a benefit of starting so many young players last season.

“Last year,” Martin said, “was just a 10-game preseason for this year.”

Ontario, the second-place finisher in the Mt. Baldy League after a banner year, took heavy losses from a 23-member graduating class that included all of its skill players and all but three starters. Justin Randall and Moses Huerta return to start both ways on the offensive and defensive lines but coach Steve Randall isn’t exactly predicting another second-place finish.

“We did a lot to turn the corner last year as a program,” Steve Randall said. “We might be able to make a run for a playoff spot, but at the same time we realize there will be a lot of trial and error this year.”

Garey believes it has the talent to turn the corner after producing seven wins the last three years combined. Receiver Dominique Williams and fellow junior, offensive tackle Chris Jimenez, have bonafide Division I talent. Combined with the arrival of first-year head coach Leonard Hudson, an assistant at Pomona for 14 years, the Vikings are trying to quell their excitement.

“You’ve gotta be careful with a situation like this,” said Hudson. “Kids come off a losing season, they’re skeptical about buying in. We’ve got a lot of talent, it’s just very young so you’ve got to be patient with it and develop it.”

Montclair developed more in 2008 than its three-win improvement from the season before, according to Rick Ward, who is entering his second season. Of course, Montclair went 0-10 the season before Ward arrived.

But the playoffs were a possibility had Montclair not blown four fourth-quarter leads last season. The five starters each back on offense and defense don’t include running back Terence Charles – a Division-I talent, according to Ward – who was academically ineligible for all but the final two games last season.

Keys to success: Chaffey appears to have the pieces – four returning starters on the offensive line – to effectively execute its ground game. The question for the defending Mt. Baldy League champs seems not to be whether they can win, but can they win in the playoffs, where they have suffered devastating defeats the past two years.

Keys to success: If Colony can reap the benefits of growing pains that netted it a third-place finish in league last year after consecutive CIF titles in `06 and `07, the Titans will be back in the mix for a postseason run.

Keys to success: If Don Lugo can balance it’s run-dominated offense with more success through the air, the Conquistadores will have a dynamic attack to match a defense led by all-everything defensive end George Uko.

Keys to success: Talent isn’t the problem at Garey. The issue seems to be harnessing and developing it. If a junior class including a few Division I college football recruits can play disciplined football, Garey could push to break a nine-year playoff drought.

Keys to success: Montclair made huge strides under first-year coach Ward from an 0-10 season in `07. If the Cavaliers can hold some of the leads they lost late in games last season, they could sneak into the playoff picture.

ONTARIO

Coach: Steve Randall

Year, record at school: 4th year, 13-18

2008 record: 6-5 (4-1)

Last playoff berth: 2008, lost to Menifee Paloma Valley 42-21 in first round.

Keys to success: After a banner year, Ontario is looking to uphold the program despite graduating 23 seniors, 17 of whom were starters. If the Jaguars can gain enough experience by the time league play begins, they could push for a second consecutive playoff berth.

Clay Fowler is the sports features and UCLA basketball writer for the Southern California News Group. He has been working for SCNG since 2006, when he moved to Southern California from his native Texas. He was born and raised in Dallas and graduated from the University of Texas in 2002. He lives in La Verne with his wife and son. He is probably craving Chinese food right now.